The Ailing Atheist

October 11, 2014

I was talking with a friend about the decline of the wildlife, the degradation of the environment, and the phosphoric depletion of climate, and what a serious threat this is to the overall well being of Mankind. We exchanged thoughts on our love of nature and its importance in our lives, and later, he gave me a book to read: THE LIVING UNIVERSE by Duane Elgin. I will share a small part:

” … surveys of the American adult population show that two-thirds say they have had an experience of extrasensory perception such as an accurate intuition about the well-being of someone who is far away. In addition, about 40 percent report having had a “mystical” experience such as seeing the universe alive and feeling a sense of great peace and safety within that aliveness.”

This does not surprise me, and not only does it not surprise me, I see where there will be a shift into the next place in that “mystical” experience. As I have shared here in SPIR, and more recently on the Religion News Service comment section (why I have been away from SPIR for a time), I am gnostic, not of religion, despite many attempts by the militant atheist to “condemn” me as such (and yes, they are out there campaigning hard to remove not only religion, but also faith and belief from this same Universe we all share … no kidding, I read this on the comments). Gnosis (knowledge) is a place of “being” that serves to move or strive for well being. It is continuous, and it is profound in its proclivity of awareness on self, which gives rise to REASON within Spirit Conscience. A journey—it holds to an inward outward advance, and all things created initiate in this advance. To be of a balanced awareness of self, NATURE is companion; Universe is a Character Witness, as all created things must pass.

Why I chose the title for this essay, and why I chose to include Nature and Universe, is to share with you a few of my experiences.

One does not have to look far to encounter the dilemma now facing the average Atheist, just as one does not have to look far to encounter the dilemma of the average believer in God. The Atheist, once an undeterred position of helping to balance the often overbearing agendas of the God believer, is now in a new position: Sink or swim. As I said earlier, Universe is a Character Witness, as all created things must pass, which is saying: WE ARE NOT ALONE. The Atheist, like the God believer, must make the decision to move from a place of relative comfort as everything around us is moving, and quite forcefully, or he will find himself estranged in a place of illegitimacy. The following says a lot about this dilemma:

Campaigners will gather in London at the weekend to promote an international front of secularism to counter the rise of extremist groups such as Islamic State (Isis) in the Middle East, Boko Haram in Nigeria and the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Richard Dawkins, AC Grayling and the Algerian sociologist Marieme Hélie-Lucas will be among the participants at the two-day conference, titled the Religious Right, Secularism and Civil Rights.

Hélie-Lucas, one of the organisers of the event, said: “This century is not, as many still think, marked by a religious or spiritual revival. What we are actually witnessing is the rise of extreme right political movements, working under the cover of religion.”

Another organiser, Maryam Namazie, emphasised that the battle with groups such as Isis was not religious but political. “The way to push back Isis and other forms of the religious right – from the Hindu right, Jewish right, Christian right, Buddhist right and so on – is by pushing it out of the state and unequivocally defending secularism, universalism and citizenship rights,” she said.

Namazie and her fellow secularists argue that secularism is not a western ideal, but one shared by many believers and non-believers in the Middle East, north Africa and Asia. “This is a fight between secularists and theocrats. This does not preclude religious allies as the religious can also be – and often are – secularists,” Namazie said. “In fact, in places under the rule of the religious right, you will find no greater adherents to secularism and the separation of religion from the state. They may not call themselves secularists, but that is what they are.”

Karima Bennoune, author of Your Fatwa Does Not Apply Here, argued that Islamism by definition was not moderate as it advocated a theocratic stance, using its own interpretations of religion and religious language as a cover for a far-right political project.

“It is a politics, not a religious opinion,” she said. “The current Turkish government is indeed part of the religious right and opposed by many progressive, left, secularist, moderate religious people in Turkey, as the Gezi Park demonstrations show.”

Isis can be expected to loom large at the conference. The militant group, which has been condemned as too violent and extremist even by al-Qaida, has attracted thousands of adherents in the west despite its brutal tactics, which include public beheadings.

“You cannot have a conference today on the religious right and not begin and end with Isis,” said Namazie. “The fight against Isis is not about western versus eastern values. Isis is the result of the retreat of universality, secularism and the Iraq-isation or division of the world and societies into everything from religion to ethnicity, rather than seeing them as human beings and citizens first and foremost. We have the historical task of raising those ideals and demands.”

The conference organisers have issued a secularist manifesto calling for a complete separation of religion from the state; abolition of religious laws in the family; separation of religion from public policy, including the education system, healthcare and scientific research; freedom of religion and atheism and freedom to criticise religions; and equality between women and men and citizenship rights for all.

They said the conference was an “attempt to gather some of the secularists on the frontlines, show our strength, and provide a progressive alternative to the religious right that does not involve bigotry and fascism, US-led militarism or cultural relativism”.

The Atheist, it appears, is no longer an Atheist, he is a commander on a mission of SECULARISM, or was that HUMANITARIANISM? He must now stand and fight to remove all religion from the workforce, which in my vision, includes the lifeforce. It seems ISIL, no different from the mannerisms of the Roman Church in their heyday of massacring for control, is winning in its sophisticated attempt to prove the Tower of Babble a reality. The saying, “history repeats” gets repeated. Evil loves the disintegration of: wisdom on … taking what you have learned and improving it, which in gnosis is experienced as movement. Waste is Evil’s motto. Destruction is its key to try to confuse personal wellness with mission to establish … well, agenda—agenda without voice, personal voice through experience. Okay, and what of the Atheist Secularist? The new commanders desire the destruction of religion, because a. they believe God does not exist and, b. religious extremism is a problem for them, and often times, a serious problem for many, many others, as is the case with ISIL. The once Atheist now Secularist REACTS to Religious (law) by demanding an eradication of its use within, well … all of Mankind. Alright … but Government is Religion. It behaves religiously with its SUPREME IMPORTANCE. So, does one use RELIGION TO DESTROY RELIGION? That is beginning to give way to hypocrisy, and if you look at the agendas of ‘these’ Secularists, you begin to get a picture of man stepping in his own business outside the house he represents. This reads fascist.

But okay, the Secularists are now the all knowing popes of this feeble day, and through this I would add that if they believe there is no SPIRITUAL REVIVING, they would be incorrect. How does one see a mountain while enclosed inside a tent? Clearly, lack of experience within these vessels is showing its cloth ( Spiritual metaphor in case any are wondering on the Language). It is the Nature of lifeforce to find a way to survive, and this always breathes something, therefore, removal of Religious (law) breeds something new. Look at the solemnity of the ARTS. There is always movement where there is need to revive to survive. This is of Spirit in a Universe of Symmetrics (new language? Yep … so did the use of the word icon change, originating from likeness/image), no matter what you call yourself. Nature teaches us this very thing.

In light of all of this, we must ask the Militant Secularists … WHERE IS PROOF THAT YOUR REACTION WILL SOLVE THE PROBLEMS YOU DESIRE FOR “ALL” IN THE UNIVERSE? What you cannot and do not appreciate, including gnosis, through vehicles undetermined, is that there is a LIVING UNIVERSE that may be breathing in places you cannot conceive from where you sit. Are we all to be guinea pigs of your world-wide experiment to remove all Religious (law) from State, AND Family? As I told the Atheist acting the predator on RNS’s comment board: Go for it, if you believe it will solve the ills of society. Removing Religious (law) from society will create an immense imbalance, for as we know, history repeats. People can and will use just about anything as weapon, which proves the fallen ways of mankind in general. It is of a herd mentality having formed in large groups, reacting to the nature of itself, and with a smile, I say, it is called Religion, and yes, it is sometimes with oppressive and even devastating results.

What I do not smile about is the looming virus. This is not just Ebola, but its partner, the Enterovirus. Allow me to paint a picture for those of strict Secularist Agenda, and I will do it simply, as some have said I write in the esoteric. Viruses take its toll. Many lives are lost, and many altered. Should we be without RELIGIOUS (law) during this? I think what we may find is that some practices will have to be done away with for the safety of many, and some will be revived for the wellness of Mankind as a whole.

Take your pick. Sink or swim?

Peace and Love

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Just a follow up on what I shared in the essay: THE AILING ATHEIST. The following comment is a foolish statement (from RNS comment board), demonstrating how UNAWARE militancy can be in forced agendas (in this case, from a militant Atheist using the “winning” of a Muslim woman, and the promotion of the education of Muslim women for his own appeals to remove “faith” from the Universe). This commenter does not understand the complexity of faith, and how faith can revive individuals in the event of grave illness. What has this poster to look forward to but HIS OWN success of agenda? Remove faith from the PARADOX on LOVE and what is left is nothing more than empty footsteps, where no PEACE is garnered. It is a necessary part that faith be understood in this paradox, and filtered in such a manner as to verify the remnant (Scriptural, in case any one is wondering).

Atheist Max October 12, 2014 at 1:34 am
@rob,

“what sicko religion were those Guys, that did that.”

If you defend ‘faith’ you must defend all the awful nonsense
done in the name of ‘faith’ regardless of whatever ‘faith’ it is.

Faith is the belief that you know better than whatever the evidence shows! And that is a junky, foolish way to justify your behavior!

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The statement was made to a comment on the incident of the Taliban shooting Malala. I am sure that if Atheist Max actually spoke with Malala, who is Sunni Muslim, he would quickly discover she experienced some form of faith throughout this ordeal. Also, I would like to point out something on interest—something I learned about Malala’s story. I post a section from Wikipedia:

In late 2008, when Aamer Ahmed Khan of the BBC Urdu website and his colleagues had discussed a novel way of covering the Taliban’s growing influence in Swat: Why not find a schoolgirl to blog anonymously about her life there? Their correspondent in Peshawar, Abdul Hai Kakar, had been in touch with a local school teacher, Ziauddin Yousafzai, but couldn’t find any students willing to do it. It was too dangerous, their families said. Finally, Yousafzai suggested his own daughter, 11-year-old Malala.[23] At the time, Taliban militants led by Maulana Fazlullah were taking over the Swat Valley, banning television, music, girls’ education,[24] and women from going shopping.[25] Bodies of beheaded policemen were being hung in town squares.[24] At first, a girl named Aisha from her father’s school agreed to write a diary, but then the girl’s parents stopped her from doing it because they feared Taliban reprisals. The only alternative was Yousafzai, four years younger than the original volunteer, and in seventh grade at the time.[26] Editors at the BBC unanimously agreed.[24]

I had a terrible dream yesterday with military helicopters and the Taleban. I have had such dreams since the launch of the military operation in Swat. My mother made me breakfast and I went off to school. I was afraid going to school because the Taleban had issued an edict banning all girls from attending schools.

Only 11 out of 27 pupils attended the class because the number decreased because of the Taliban’s edict. My three friends have shifted to Peshawar, Lahore and Rawalpindi with their families after this edict.

“”
Malala Yousafzai, 3 January 2009 BBC blog entry[16]
“We had been covering the violence and politics in Swat in detail but we didn’t know much about how ordinary people lived under the Taliban,” Mirza Waheed, the former editor of BBC Urdu, said. Because they were concerned about Yousafzai’s safety, BBC editors insisted that she use a pseudonym.[24] Her blog was published under the byline “Gul Makai” (“cornflower” in Urdu),[27] a name taken from a character in a Pashtun folktale.[28][29]

On 3 January 2009, Yousafzai’s first entry was posted to the BBC Urdu blog. She would hand-write notes and then pass them on to a reporter who would scan and e-mail them.[24] The blog records Yousafzai’s thoughts during the First Battle of Swat, as military operations take place, fewer girls show up to school, and finally, her school shuts down.

In Mingora, the Taliban had set an edict that no girls could attend school after 15 January 2009. The group had already blown up more than a hundred girls’ schools.[24] The night before the ban took effect was filled with the noise of artillery fire, waking Yousafzai several times. The following day, Yousafzai also read for the first time excerpts from her blog that had been published in a local newspaper.[16]

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I share this because I do not believe it to be a wise thing to enlist a child to do this dangerous work, and I do not want the children, who are now so enthralled with Malala, to attempt to become “heros” from being influenced by this. Yes, Malala was brave, but what is bravery to a child with limited experience? WE see how children step in places without understanding the fuller consequences of these steps. Using a child in this manner may likely become a questionable act, and not so applauded. Malala is very fortunate to have survived.